A Simple Piece Of Spy Gear: The Survival Keychain

If you’ve watched Jason Hanson on any of the shows he’s been on, you might have seen him use a piece of paracord from his spy gear to escape rope or zip ties. It might seem a little strange to just carry that around. But since it has an every day use, it’s a valid every day carry item. That’s why it was put together with a metal ball as a keychain.

Jason has demonstrated this keychain breaking car windows as well as putting a serious dent in a car. This is one simple spy gadget that can save you in a number of ways. First, it’s a self-defense tool that can put a lot of hurt on anyone it strikes. It can also provide you with those few precious feet of paracord when the time comes.

So what makes this spy gear?

It really boils down to the fact that nobody would consider this a weapon. While the metal ball would trigger a metal detector, so would your keys. But aside from that, it just looks like a ball of paracord. It may look a little odd to some people, but it certainly won’t look like a weapon.

This means that when you need to carry a weapon into a sports stadium or a business meeting, this is the spy gear for you. The only real issue here is if you go through an x-ray scanner, but there’s nothing illegal about it, so you may just have to leave it with security.

This is also a good tool for dealing with someone attacking from behind. The few inches of extra reach is perfect for hitting someone in the head or knuckles if they grab you. It also works well for attacks from behind because it is a swinging tool and your natural response will be to swing around or swing your arms during an attack from behind.

Paracord is one of my all-time favorite tools

In the Army, paracord goes by a variety of names. It’s 550-cord throughout most of the Army. They call it that because it has a tensile strength of 550 lbs. The Air Assault Schools and units call it type-3 nylon. They just like to make things complicated. Only the airborne community calls it paracord. They call it that because it connects the paratrooper to his parachute when jumping out of airplanes.

We did everything with this stuff. We tied equipment to our rifles, to our vests, and sometimes to each other. Our survival shelters were made using it and our clothes were dried on it. I used it on more than a few occasions to set up early warning flares as well as handmade devices. Some guys even made handles for their bags and bracelets out of it just to have a few extra feet on hand.

We packed a minimum of 10 feet of it per soldier on every mission. I think I would have had a stroke if I found a soldier that didn’t have at least five feet back then.

With 12 years as an Infantryman in the United States Army, Jason has served in Kosovo, Iraq, and Afghanistan. He has served in positions from Rifleman, to Platoon Sergeant, and as an Observer/Controller. During his time in the Army, he received the Ranger Tab, Airborne and Pathfinder Badges, a Bronze Star Medal for service and more. Jason is now the Content Manager for Spy Escape & Evasion.